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Bravo II transom leak only when engine running, Bayliner Ciera 2855

Anrky

Anrky

New member
Hi all,

I have had a good poke around here and other forums but not turned up any conclusive or useful answer to my issue.

After completing total bellows and seals replacement on my Bravo II, I now have an interesting problem where I have a constant water leak at the transom but ONLY when the engine is running. The moment I shut the engine down the water slowly ceases and then stops dripping after about 3 minutes.

Now I must declare that I did the old trick of buying a cheap aftermarket replacement kit, so I am wondering if I am living proof of "the poor man always pays twice"

Anyway, I am still at a loss as to why the water only enters the bilge via the transom when the engine is running. Ideally I would like a dry bilge. Now I did check with a camera and took a vid of the leak while the engine was running and it appears to be coming in somewhere around the drive shaft, gimble bearing, and U-joint bellows. If that is correct, then why is it not leaking all of the time?

I know that there is a collective of incredible talent and knowledge here so I am gratefully looking forward to some advice.
 
louc said:
What’s the list of parts replaced besides the bellows?
Click to expand...
Okay so I replaced the following:
U joint bellows
Lower shift bellows
Oil lube line and transom tube
Fumble bearing
All of the upper O ring seals
Water pick up transom elbow

Pretty sure that’s it.

What are your thoughts?
 
Whatever seals are involved with the passage of water through the transom mount, from the outdrive to the raw water pump, would be suspect given what you've seen. Not the driveshaft bellows or shift cable bellows, those would leak only with the boat in the water, engine off or on.
Not being familiar with the Bravo II design I can't say but I'm sure guys on here familiar with the Merc drives will have their thoughts.
 
Yes that’s kind of what I was thinking. In fact after contemplating the replacement list it can really only be the water pick up inlet/elbow as that is charged when the engine is on. Hmm 🤔 I’ll poke around with my endo camera and report back. In the meantime, happy for others to share their thoughts.

I have clipped 2 photos from the vid to assist with context.

Many thanks for your input @louc, have a good one.
 

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Only when running is interesting considering your outdrive has no impeller. you are sucking water in not pushing it in. There are 2 vent holes in the transom housing 12:00 and 6:00
Water from there would be a leaking bellow connection.
 
Yes correct. My Bravo II leg is mated with a Seacore 350 MAG (closed cooling) which sucks water through the leg with the raw water pump located lower front right of the engine.
 
Since its not a diesel, I'd say its the water connector (elbow) or in that vicinity....like BT said, that's a suction line when running so there can't be much water escaping....I'd be cautious in trying to use the boat until the leak is resolved....
 
Thanks @makomark. Hopefully I will correctly ID the issue with the endo camera. Definitely seems to be coming from the drive shaft cavity as the pick up inlet elbow is dry.
 
That would be the water pick up line water side inside the bell housing/transom plate.

I used this part as attached.
 
Anrky said:
That would be the water pick up line water side inside the bell housing/transom plate.

I used this part as attached.
Click to expand...
OK my misunderstanding
Still, the only thing above the driveshaft is the raw water tube, or lube tube, but lube would leak all the time
 
Funny you say that because that was one of the initial reasons for changing out the elbow as I had an overheating issue of which this elbow is often the culprit, however it turned out the be the water pick up channel inside the leg was fouled with barnacles.

So are you confirming that the part I used is the correct inlet elbow?
 
Anrky said:
So are you confirming that the part I used is the correct inlet elbow?
Click to expand...
I'll confirm that is one a a couple that are used. That one is one that uses a quick connect fitting and it appears to be right. That said, if there is a nick in the O-ring of the connector it can leak
 
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